Boy Meets Girl has been nominated for Best Comedy at the Royal Television Society North West Awards 2016. The show's creator Elliott Kerrigan and co-writer Simon Carlyle have been nominated for Best Script Writer while Rebecca Root and her co-star in the show, Harry Hepple, have each been nominated for Best Performance in a Comedy. The winners will be announced at the Hilton Hotel, Manchester, on 12th November.

Boy Meets Girl

In late September the BBC announced it would not be renewing Boy Meets Girl, citing declining viewing figures and a "natural conclusion" to Judy and Leo's storyline.

Summer 2016

Liberate and Channel Islands LGBT Diversity and Equality Awards

Rebecca will be hosting the Channel Islands Diversity and Equality Awards on Friday 16th September in St Helier, Jersey. She will also participate in the islands' Pride festivities on Sat 17th. Details and further information including ticketing may be found here: https://liberate.je/awards

Doctors

Rebecca recently filmed two episodes of the popular drama series Doctors for BBC1. The episodes will be broadcast in January 2017.

Hank Zipzer Christmas Special

Rebecca recently wrapped shooting on the feature length Christmas special of the popular CBBC show Hank Zipzer, guest-starring alongside the legendary Henry Winkler. The movie will be broadcast on CBBC over the 2016 Christmas holidays.

Rebecca was Amanda Holden's guest on theLorraineshow on ITV on the 4th July. You can watch highlights of her conversation on the Lorraine YouTube channelhere:

Boy Meets Girl: Season 2

The second season of Boy Meets Girl will commence on BBC Two on Wednesday 6th July at 10pm for six weeks.

Find out more and follow the series on the official Boy Meets Girl pages on the BBC website here, and on the British Comedy Guidewebsite.

Doctor Who

Rebecca recently recorded an episode of the popular audio version of Doctor Who, produced byBig Finish Productions. She was thrilled to work with Peter Davisonas the Fifth Doctor, joined by his regular companions Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse, and Janet Fielding. Niamh Cusack, Alix Wilton Regan, and Philip Franks guested alongside Rebecca. The episode will be released in 2017.

Rebecca has recently recorded a reading ofJuliet Jacques's memoir, "Trans" forAudible. It is due for worldwide release in late May 2016.

The Ray D'Arcy Show

Rebecca was a guest on Irish national broadcaster RTE1'sRay D'Arcy Showon 26th March. The chat show host had previously interviewed her on his radio show in 2015, and now asked Rebecca to speak in more depth about her career, her Irish ancestry and her experiences as a trans woman and actor.

The interview is available to watch here:

Boy Meets Girl

Filming has now completed on Series 2 of the popular BBC Two sitcom. The show is due to be broadcast later in the year.

Rebecca appeared at the UK premiere of The Danish Girl at London's Odeon Leicester Square cinema on 8th December 2015. The event was attended by the film's stars Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Sebastian Koch and Matthias Schoenaerts as well as director Tom Hooper, screenwriter Lucinda Coxon, and producer Gail Mutrux.

Rebecca attended the Los Angeles premiere of The Danish Girl at the Regency Westwood Theater on November 21st. Also in attendance were the film's director, Tom Hooper, stars Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander and Amber Heard, and guests including Johnny Depp, Sir Patrick Stewart and Chaz Bono.

On November 23rd, Rebecca was a guest at the White HouseChampions of Change event and DC premiere of The Danish Girl. Guests included the cast and creative team of the popular Amazon Prime series Transparent.

The academic and feminist writer Germaine Greer spoke out on BBC's Newsnight against the trans community, saying that post-operative transsexual women are "not women". Rebecca was invited to respond on the Victoria Derbyshire programme on BBC2 on Monday 26th October. She told Victoria that Professor Greer's comments were "grossly offensive" and "outmoded, outdated and outrageous". The interview is available to watch here.

"Proud to dedicate this wonderful award to anyone who is struggling with
their gender identity, or is subject to abuse or ostracism because of
who they are, or who simply feels just a little bit lost on the rocky
road of life. I say to you: Lovely person: Keep going. Stay smiling.
Face the world with your head held high and don't ever, EVER give up
being yourself. Love and light. XX"

Photo: (c) Rachel Root

Acting

Rebecca recently made her radio drama debut when she appeared as the composer Angela Morley in a new play by Sarah Wooley for BBC Radio 4. 1977 has been described as a play about
"artistic temperaments, film making, composing and how one woman overcame
fear and prejudice to live as the person she'd always wanted to be."

The play also features performances by William Gaminara, Bryan Dick, and Debra Baker. It will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 3rd December at 2.15pm.

Boy Meets Girl concluded its first season on 8th October. The show premiered on BBC2 on 3rd September to critical and public acclaim. Visit the programme's page on the BBC website here for details of latest episodes and how to watch past episodes on the BBC iPlayer. The DVD was released on 12th October and is available to buy directly from Acorn Media here.

Trans Scripts concluded its highly successful run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on 31st August. The show received multiple four- and five-star reviews, as well as winning a Fringe First Award.

Photo (c) Colin Hattersley

Image (c) Calpernia Addams

Press and Personal Appearances

Rebecca will be chairing a panel at the London Literature Festival on Sunday 4th October ay 2.30pm at the Southbank Centre. Part of the Young Adult Literature Weekender, she will be in conversation with James Dawson, Lisa Williamson and Surella Stevens. The panel will be discussing themes of gender identity in YA fiction. Tickets and more information may be found here.

Rebecca will be appearing at the Radio Times Festivalon 25th September alongside Kellie Maloney in a panel conversation entitled Transgender Trailblazers. Tickets and more information here.

Rebecca spoke at the Edinburgh International Television Festival as part of their ED Talks platform. In her talk she spoke about the increasing visibility of trans people in the entertainment industry and her role in Boy Meets Girl. The session may be viewed on the Festival's YouTube page; Rebecca's talk is at around the 37 minute mark.

Rebecca will be speaking at the inauguralRadio Times Festivalon September 25th at 6pm. In a Q&A session called "Transgender Trailblazers", she will be joined byKellie Maloneyand together they will discuss their work and experiences as trans women.

Full details and how to book are available from the Radio Times Festival website.

The Radio Times ran apiece announcing the festival, and the London Evening Standard also mentioned Rebecca and Kellie's event (one day people will move on from using the term "sex change" as it is somewhat outdated nowadays).

Acting

Rebecca will be playing the role of Eden inPaul Lucas's ground breaking new play "Trans Scripts"at this year'sEdinburgh Festival Fringe. The play is based on interviews with trans women from around the world and tells their stories in verbatim realism.

The production team are busy fundraising to support the project; please consider making a donation via the Indiegogo pagehere. Rebecca made a short film to say THANK YOU to some recent donors.

In May, Rebecca filmed a guest appearance in an episode of the popular Channel 4 series"Hollyoaks."Due for transmission on July 15th 2015, at 6.30pm.

Print

Rebecca was featured in an article for theSunday Times Style sectionabout the current increased visibility of transgender people and trans stories in the media. The article is available for Sunday Times subscribers from theirwebsite, or a PDF is downloadablehere.

Spring 2015

Acting

In March Rebecca appeared in the upcoming feature film The Danish Girl, directed by Tom Hooperand starringEddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikanderand Ben Whishaw. Based on the 2000 novel by David Ebershoff, the film tells the true story ofLili Elbe, who was a pioneering trans-woman in the early 20th century, and whose transition was one of the earliest recorded instances of male-to-female gender reassignment surgery.

The film is due for release in the US in November 2015 and in the UK in January 2016.

Rebecca completed shooting "Boy Meets Girl" in late February. Transmission is expected to be sometime in the autumn of 2015. Meanwhile a season trailer for BBC2 was recently released by the channel's Controller, Kim Shillinglaw. A sneak preview clip of Boy Meets Girl is at around the 05:56 time mark. You can watch the full trailer here.

Print

Rebecca is featured on the cover of the Equity JournalSummer 2015 edition. In an extensive interview she discusses her career and reflects on the recent increase in visibility of transgender people in the media and the acting profession. A PDF of the magazine is available from the Equity website.

Rebecca was interviewed by Patrick Strudwick forBuzzfeed. She discussed her work on "Boy Meets Girl" and "The Danish Girl" as well as aspects of her transition and off-screen life. You can read the articlehere.

Personal Appearances

In May Rebecca attended the BBCSalford Sitcom Showcase2015. She appeared on two panels about the making of "Boy Meets Girl," the pilot for which was a highlight of the 2014 festival, leading to the commissioning of the show's first series.

Rebecca was interviewed by the BFI as part of the 2015 BFI Flare Festival. She discussed the Neil Jordan film "Breakfast On Pluto" and why she loves Cillian Murphy's performance. The interview can also be seen on the BFI websitehere.

Rebecca was the guest of The ArtHouse Cinema Crouch Endon 25th March 2015 as part of their LGBT Movies series. She introduced the film that made an impact on her life, the drama "Boys Don't Cry." After the screening Rebecca participated in a Q&A in which she discussed her recent work.ArtHouse Crouch End.

February 2015

Print

Filming has now begun on "Boy Meets Girl" and a press release from Tiger Aspect Productions, who are making the show for the BBC, produced a flurry of articles on the internet.

Out Magazinedescribed the show as "revolutionary", while The Guardian interviewedthe Executive Producer Sophie Clarke-Jervoise and BBC Comedy Commissioning Editor Kristian Smith about how it came to be made.

Elsewhere in the same paper Hugh Muirsubsequently featured Rebecca in his "In Praise of..." column. Previously the trans activist and journalist Paris Leeswrote in herblog about the show's place in the "quiet revolution" for transgender story lines and the performers who appear in them.

Winter 2014/2015

Print

Rebecca was featured in an article on transgender vocal adaptation in theDaily Telegraphonline. She discussed with Theo Merz her own vocal history and how it informs her present private practice as a voice coach.

Acting

Filming on the highly anticipated BBC2 sitcom "Boy Meets Girl" is scheduled to commence in mid-January 2015. No broadcast dates have yet been announced.

Radio

Rebecca was interviewed on Claire Parker's "Time For T" show. You can listen to the podcast versionhere.

Rebecca appeared on the popular BBC Radio 4 magazine programme Saturday Liveon 22nd November 2014 at 9am. She spoke about her voice coaching for transgendered clients and her experiences as a transwoman and actor. She also confirmed she would be starring in the forthcoming BBC2 sitcom "Boy Meets Girl" in 2015.

Rebecca was included in the Independent on Sunday's 2014 Rainbow List, entering at Number 18. Published on 9th November 2014, the annual roll call, formerly known as the Pink List, celebrates the 101 people from the UK's LGBT community "who have made a difference to British life". Rebecca was delighted and honoured to be amongst such esteemed company as Michael Cashman, Tom Daley, Mark Gatiss and Paris Lees and the other ninety-six brilliant people who complete the list. Read the full list on the Independent'swebsite.

Academic

Rebecca spoke on the Voicing Gender panel at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London in November. This formed part of the nationwide Being Human Festival of the Humanities. Rebecca's talk, in which she illuminated the process of finding a voice to match one's gender identity, included a reading of her short story "The Portraitist." The story forms the basis of a collection of her writings which Rebecca intends to publish in 2016.

Related to the Being Human festival, Rebecca appeared in a podcast for The Feminists Fatale, in which she elaborated on her work with US voice teacher Lindsay Walker. The podcast is available here.

Summer 2014

Acting

The BBC officially announced thecommissioning of "Boy Meets Girl"in August 2014. Casting is yet to be confirmed. Rapid and widespread coverage of what's being hailed as "Britain's first transgender comedy" has been very favourable.

Trans Comedy Award, originators of the competition that launched the search for scripts in 2012, said: "We are delighted that this has been achieved and will have a huge impact
on the way people view trans people, in the same way that transgender
actress Laverne Cox has by virtue of being cast in the Netflix series
Orange is the New Black."

Rebecca presented her workshop on transgender vocal adaptation at the Voice and Speech Trainers' Association (VASTA)conference in Londonin August 2014.She also performed her self-penned monologue "Eleutheria" at the conference Identity Cabaret. The piece was filmed on a hand-held camera which resulted in occasional shakiness, but the message comes across. Watch Rebecca's piece on her YouTube page.

Rebecca wrote a blog for the All About Trans team, which was instrumental in setting up the Trans Comedy Award, about her experiences filming the pilot.

Rebecca featured in an article about trans actors in The Independentnewspaper on 19th May 2014. The author Jay Richardsondiscussed the debate surrounding casting transgendered characters with cisgendered (ie, non-trans) actors.

Rebecca will present a workshop at the annual VASTA conferencein the summer, held this year at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, London. Her workshop will focus on the use of poetryin voice training for transgendered clients.

Recent Publications

Rebecca was interviewed by Sandy Hirsch for the second edition of the groundbreaking work, "Voice and Communication Therapy for the Transgender/Transsexual Client: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide". Co-edited by Hirsch, Richard Adler and Michelle Mordaunt, the book won widespread acclaim upon its first publication in 2006 and Rebecca was delighted to be involved in the second edition. Her in-depth conversation with Hirsch covered such topics as gender and performance, TS/TG voice work and acting in general. The book was published in 2012. Click here to buy a copy.

Rebecca contributed a chapter to "Setting the Stage for Social Justice", edited by Norma Bowles and Daniel-Raymond Nadon (published 2012 by Southern Illinois University Press, USA). Entitled "Voicing Your Gender, Gendering Your Voice", Rebecca's article examines her practise while working with Norma Bowles and Gendered Intelligence on the Brief Encounters project in 2008.

In 2011 Rebecca began occasional forays into stand up comedy, following training with Chris Head in London. See her blog for more details.

Previous Conferences:

VASTA:Chicago, August 2011

Rebecca travelled to Chicago to attend the annual VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainers Association) conference. She presented an hour long practical workshop entitled "Vocalizing Gender in Fact and Fiction", in which she explored the way the voice can be modified by transgender individuals, as well as by actors in performance playing cross-gender roles.

VASTA/Ceuvoz Conference: Mexico City, August 2010

Rebecca was the recipient of the prestigious Clyde Vinson Memorial Scholarship 2010 bestowed by VASTA (the Voice and Speech Trainers Association).

This award enabled Rebecca to travel to the 2010 VASTA Conference in Mexico City in August, where she presented a peer-reviewed practical workshop on vocal adaptation for transgendered clients.

Trans Community Conference: London, July 2010

Rebecca held two separate voice and speech workshops with a focus on transgendered vocal dynamics at the 2010 Trans Community Conference in London. The event was convened by Gendered Intelligence.

Performing Gender Seminar: Oslo, April 2010

In April, Rebecca was keynote speaker with her lecture "There and Back Again: Adventures in Genderland" at the Oslo National Academy of The Arts (Faculty of Performing Arts). The occasion was an all-day seminar on the subject of performing gender. Panels included casting directors, actors and directors.

Her first essay is based on her workshop given at the VASTA conference 2010 in Mexico City and is entitled "Stepping Off the Stone: Transsexual and Transgender Voice Modification and Presentation: A Practical Resource from a Personal Perspective".

Rebecca's second article in the 2011 VSR is a book review of "The Thought Propels the Sound" by Janet M Feindel (published by Plural Publishing, Inc. 2009).